Amanda Crafts Fired After $1,250 Atlantic City Casino Scheme

Four Apple Pay transactions totaling $1,250 were made from a victim's phone in an Atlantic City hotel room, according to a complaint. The money was transferred without consent after the victim was restrained and forced to perform sexual acts. Amanda Crafts, 35, of Wildwood Crest, and Veda Engel, 23, of Cape May, were charged in connection with the October 9 incident.

Police report that the victim met the two women at a bar within a resort. After exchanging contact information with Engel, the man entered the women's room. There, Crafts and Engel stripped him and pinned him to the bed. Engel then performed sexual acts on him. According to the affidavit, she stopped and said, “That’s what you get for $1,250.” While Crafts held the victim down, Engel used his facial recognition to unlock his phone and transfer the funds to her account.

Crafts, a computer teacher at Middle Township Middle School, had no prior arrest record. During a video appearance from the Atlantic County Justice Facility, she told Judge Timothy Maguire that she had four children. “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” she said. The school district confirmed her termination on October 19. Superintendent Stephanie DeRose stated that the district’s highest priority is the safety and well-being of its students.

Engel, who works for SoFresh SoClean Commercial Cleaning in Ocean City, has a previous history with prostitution-related charges. In December of last year, she allegedly offered an undercover detective sex for $1,000 at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa. She was released on a summons at that time. The current charges stem from the October 9 incident at the Atlantic City resort.

Both women were held for nearly a week following their arrest. They were released on October 15 after the state agreed to pretrial conditions. These conditions require the pair to check in with the court every other week. Crafts taught in the school’s special area department, according to the school website. The district noted that it followed appropriate procedures to ensure those entrusted with caring for children meet expected standards.